Michigan Man Fools Government into Paying Him Disability

The federal government says it mistakenly paid $54,000 to a Washtenaw County man who repeatedly claimed that he didn't get his disability check.

David Lundy has been charged with stealing public money. A criminal complaint says he rightly received $18,000 in 2008 but then went back to the Social Security Administration three more times to insist that he never got the cash.

And each time the government quickly paid him, the last in December 2010. Lundy's home phone is out of service, and the Associated Press couldn't reach him for comment. He hasn't appeared yet in Detroit federal court.

The government says Lundy tried to keep the scheme going. It says he was turned down on his fourth try a year ago when officials knew the checks had been cashed.